Thursday, May 01, 2008

Searching for a Painted Lady

Searching for a Painted Lady

I had not heard World on the Move before last night but travelling home in the car at 9pm I switched on the radio and was fascinated. For anyone else who has not heard it, this Radio 4 program is all about tracking the migratory habits of a whole range of animals which includes those making their annual visits to the UK.

There was excitement as an osprey "Logie" they had been following for weeks via satellite finally made its first touch down at its its nest in the Cairngorms while the team were on the air. This was the end of "Logie's Run". Not everything goes according to plan though as further afield there was an entertaining yet unsuccessful attempt to net a leatherback turtle so that they could attach a tracking device.

What really interested me though was back closer to home. They were trying to gather data on the movements of Painted Lady Butterflies and Humming-bird Hawk-moths and were asking us all to watch out for their arrival in the UK and report where they are and what we see them doing - mating, feeding, types of plants they are populating, habitat, etc.

The recording of butterflies and moths is so important as a barometer for other insects, not to mention climate change, that my wife and I will be participating in this initiative and looking out for these distinctive creatures while out enjoying our pub walks.

If you want to join in too, full details of what they look like and how to report sightings can be found at Searching for a Painted Lady.

The Pub Walker
MyFavouritePubWalks.com
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